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Poster:
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DJason |
Date:
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December 05, 2011 08:24:02am |
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Forum:
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feature_films
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Subject:
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Re: New category request (also, a feature request) |
I should hope that requesting a spotlight be put on them would not be seen as racist! :)
Race films are not, per se, a separate genre, as the filmmakers so often aped Hollywood genres. They are, however, a distinct and separate thing. They were produced (and distributed) *very* independently, and existed in an almost alternate universe. (I won't draw a belabored comparison to the black experience of the time, because I don't think it's true, really.)
Further, I think it's a little unfair to lump them in with other, more professionally produced films. They were shot on shoestring budgets by amateurs who had no professional guidance at all. (To be clear, I am not using "amateur" in any pejorative sense. I mean simply that these productions were consistently *so* low-budget that nobody had the time or opportunity to learn or develop their craft, and they didn't have anyone with experience to mentor them.) Putting an Oscar Micheaux film next to an Ernst Lubitsch one highlights the Micheaux's film's deficiencies starkly, while putting it in next to "Harlem Rides The Range" would more properly set the cultural context.
As for the few Hollywood productions with all-black casts, I don't have a strong opinion whether they should be included or not (leaving aside that all three that I'm aware of remain under copyright). They were certainly produced for the black market, but outside of the cast they were mostly white affairs, and produced by people who were not in any sense "independent" of the studio system. I could be convinced either way. But, as you point out, it's not an issue, since Cabin In The Sky, Green Pastures, and even King Vidor's Hallelujah are all still under copyright.
My request is simply due to this being a distinct phenomenon in American film. The Archive has many of the known extant films, but finding them is a bit of a chore, which I think is a pity.
Ideally, of course, categorizing something as a "race film" would not exclude it from appearing under other categories as well. But the Archive's handling of metadata is creaky, alas.
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Poster:
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 Detective John Carter of Mars |
Date:
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December 05, 2011 03:24:00pm |
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Forum:
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feature_films
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Subject:
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Re: Race film list |
@The Archive has many of the known extant films, but finding them is a bit of a chore, which I think is a pity.
so if you find some, bookmark them on the site, then people can check out
http://www.archive.org/bookmarks/DJason
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Poster:
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DJason |
Date:
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December 06, 2011 01:05:55am |
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Forum:
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feature_films
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Subject:
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Re: New category request (also, a feature request) |
I didn't take it as an accusation of racism at all -- I was laughing at the silliness of the very idea. :)
I'm long past university; anyone who seriously accuses me of racism because I'm white or sexism because I'm male doesn't get the dignity of a reply, except to be held up for ridicule and mockery, should the mood strike me.
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Poster:
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Beforeyourtime |
Date:
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December 05, 2011 04:11:51pm |
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Forum:
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feature_films
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Subject:
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Re: New category request (also, a feature request) |
To be perfectly clear I've reread every word, there is not a hint of racist anywhere to be found. Again FWIT a film is a film, no matter who made it and under what conditions. It stands on its own merits as a film. It may be filed under a Genre for classification but to do so based on the budget avaiable and the ethnicity of who made it is a real can of worms IMHO.
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